GCC Ad Spend Increases By 23 Percent in First Half of 2008
September 27th, 2008 in Online Marketing- Middle EastThe GCC advertising expenditure in the first six months of 2008 increased by 23.6 percent to reach $3.77bn, compared to $3.05bn during the same period last year.
Khamis Al Muqla, chairman of Gulf Marcom Group based in Bahrain, and board member of the IAA Worldwide said that he expects it to reach $8bn by the end of 2008, compared to $6.5bn in 2007, an increase of 24 percent.
Al Muqla said that according to the Pan Arab Research Centre (PARC), the Pan Arab media share (mainly satellite TV) reached $1.57bn, an increase of 24 percent from 2007.
This is followed by the UAE with $929m, Saudi Arabia $550m, Kuwait $337m, Qatar $157m, Oman $120m, and Bahrain $50m. Oman recorded the highest growth among the Gulf countries (an increase of 69 percent) for the first six months of 2008, followed by UAE (42 percent), with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on par (11 percent), and followed by Bahrain (2 percent) and Qatar (1 percent).
Al Muqla added that the Pan Arab media share represents 41.64 percent of the total ad spend in the GCC.
The GCC media share including Pan Arab media was $1.7bn for newspapers and $1.6bn for TV of which $1.4bn was towards Pan Arab satellite TV. A total of $343m was spent on magazines, $74m on outdoor and $36m on radio. The print medium is still dominating in all GCC local markets.
The advertising expenditure in the GCC countries and Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan during the first six months showed a monthly average between $629m in January as the minimum, and $847m in May as the maximum, with the possibility of expenditure in July and August decreasing due to the summer period and then increasing, because of Ramadan.
The advertising categories for the first six months are:
Government/Organization – 14 percent (increase of 28 percent)
Toiletries Hygiene / House care Products – 11 percent (increase of 21 percent)
Insurance & Real Estate – 11 percent (increase of 101 percent)
Communications – 9 percent (increase of 24 percent)
Food Beverages and Tobacco – 7 percent (without any increase)
Publishing media – 6 percent (increase of 15 percent)
Shopping Malls and Retail Stores – 6 percent (increase of 20 percent)
Vehicles, Accessories and Supply – 6 percent (increase of 17 percent)
Financial Services – 6 percent (increase of 12 percent)
Professional Services – 5 percent (increase of 39 percent)
Hotel, Travel and Tourism – 5 percent (increase of 13 percent)
Entertainment – 3 percent (increase of 19 percent)
Business/Construction Equipment and Supply – 3 percent (increase of 25 percent)
Clothing, Jewelry and Personal Accessories – 3 percent (increase of 3 percent)
Household Appliances – 2 percent (increase of 12 percent).
